She Waits
Title: She Waits
Fandom: 24
Characters: Jake Hannigan, Brittany House
Word Count: 502
Rating: PG
Summary: Told her all I'll ever want and all I'll ever need/Is just enough to make me leave
Author's Notes: Jake and Brittany friendship fic, completely inspired by the song "She Waits" by Zero 1 (featuring Hal Sparks). Which, if you haven't heard Hal Sparks sing, you are missing out. Seriously.
One step forward, two steps back. That's the story of the way it goes between them. Jake Hannigan's fingers tighten around the neck of a beer bottle, nursing the beverage in the same bar they used to sit in at odd hours of the night. If she kept her promise, then why does it hurt so much?
A year and two months is time enough to let the mask fade away. He's told her the big secret he kept from her all this time, that he never really hated her, that she was merely the person onto whom he projected his hatred for Brady and for life and everything else. He knows that while they're still two opposing forces in the storm, opposites attract as much as they repel. She was understanding, compassion, nurturing, all the things that he needed, but he saw what he wanted to see, and he pushed her away. And she pushed back.
Now, after everything they've been through, it might be too late to build that bridge again. At least, if the wary looks from her husband, the awkward pauses, are any indication. He doesn't belong here. He's not like them.
He doesn't want them. He just wants her, the two of them somewhere quiet, where they can talk and they can just do whatever the hell it is they're going to do, without someone trying to judge them or the rest of the world pushing them apart. As much as they ever get close, there's always something pulling them apart. Jake is all right with that, because he's got a hell of a grip.
Jake closes his eyes and tries to figure out where the fuck he goes from here. When he opens them, she's sitting next to him, just looking at him, and he's wondering if he's drunk enough to be seeing things.
"Why'd you bail on me?" she asks softly.
"I don't belong there," he replies. "I saw the way Greg looked at me. Like a plague."
"Fuck what he thinks, Jake, if I want you as a guest in my home, you're welcome in my home." She reaches over and takes his hand in hers. Her hand is small, her touch soft, and almost awkward as he turns his blue eyes on her. "I promised you I'd stand by you, remember?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I remember."
He reaches up, fingertips tracing gently along her cheekbones. The innocence worn down at the edges by things like abductions and the ends of other friendships. But he looks into her and he sees the same woman he's always seen. An old soul, a tough woman. Just the kind of thing he needs.
"I'm bullshit at this sort of thing," he admits. "I haven't had a real friend since he left."
She swallows, relaxing into the touch of his hand against her skin. "We'll work on that," she promises, "but you have to stay with me."
Jake Hannigan doesn't say a word. He just holds on to her.
Fandom: 24
Characters: Jake Hannigan, Brittany House
Word Count: 502
Rating: PG
Summary: Told her all I'll ever want and all I'll ever need/Is just enough to make me leave
Author's Notes: Jake and Brittany friendship fic, completely inspired by the song "She Waits" by Zero 1 (featuring Hal Sparks). Which, if you haven't heard Hal Sparks sing, you are missing out. Seriously.
One step forward, two steps back. That's the story of the way it goes between them. Jake Hannigan's fingers tighten around the neck of a beer bottle, nursing the beverage in the same bar they used to sit in at odd hours of the night. If she kept her promise, then why does it hurt so much?
A year and two months is time enough to let the mask fade away. He's told her the big secret he kept from her all this time, that he never really hated her, that she was merely the person onto whom he projected his hatred for Brady and for life and everything else. He knows that while they're still two opposing forces in the storm, opposites attract as much as they repel. She was understanding, compassion, nurturing, all the things that he needed, but he saw what he wanted to see, and he pushed her away. And she pushed back.
Now, after everything they've been through, it might be too late to build that bridge again. At least, if the wary looks from her husband, the awkward pauses, are any indication. He doesn't belong here. He's not like them.
He doesn't want them. He just wants her, the two of them somewhere quiet, where they can talk and they can just do whatever the hell it is they're going to do, without someone trying to judge them or the rest of the world pushing them apart. As much as they ever get close, there's always something pulling them apart. Jake is all right with that, because he's got a hell of a grip.
Jake closes his eyes and tries to figure out where the fuck he goes from here. When he opens them, she's sitting next to him, just looking at him, and he's wondering if he's drunk enough to be seeing things.
"Why'd you bail on me?" she asks softly.
"I don't belong there," he replies. "I saw the way Greg looked at me. Like a plague."
"Fuck what he thinks, Jake, if I want you as a guest in my home, you're welcome in my home." She reaches over and takes his hand in hers. Her hand is small, her touch soft, and almost awkward as he turns his blue eyes on her. "I promised you I'd stand by you, remember?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I remember."
He reaches up, fingertips tracing gently along her cheekbones. The innocence worn down at the edges by things like abductions and the ends of other friendships. But he looks into her and he sees the same woman he's always seen. An old soul, a tough woman. Just the kind of thing he needs.
"I'm bullshit at this sort of thing," he admits. "I haven't had a real friend since he left."
She swallows, relaxing into the touch of his hand against her skin. "We'll work on that," she promises, "but you have to stay with me."
Jake Hannigan doesn't say a word. He just holds on to her.